Claudia Grimm of Mission Valley on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We recently had the chance to connect with Claudia Grimm and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Claudia, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
There have been many funny and memorable moments in plant care, which is something I love about my job. For example, I do roughly 30% of plant care in my socks! Can you guess why? It’s at the request of the client to keep their home dirt-free. I’ve learned to buy high-quality socks…

Other memorable moments include a bird making her nest in a client’s outdoor plant and watching two baby birds hatch. A family I’ve been with for a couple of years got a kitten who loves to follow the plant lady around. Another family had their first baby.

I’ve seen plants wrapped in plastic bags, water bottles, and cardboard. Encountered 12 spider bites on my legs from an outdoor project, and I’ve been mistaken for a window cleaner.

There’s no shortage of surprises and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hey there! My name is Claudia and I’m the proud owner of Zen Plant Care. We help preserve the health and beauty of houseplants for commercial and residential locations. Some of our services include plant interior design, installations, general maintenance, plant sitting, repotting, and virtual plant care.

What makes Zen Plant Care special is that the core purpose is to keep people’s stress levels low and their health up by maintaining healthy plants in their space. Plants purify the air, connect us to our roots, and help reduce heat disease, especially in cities.

We also donate to The Nature Conservancy, which helps restore habitats and reforestation. We do more than simply make a houseplant pretty; we’re trying to improve the way people feel in their daily lives.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who taught you the most about work?
My parents are badasses (P.S. am I allowed to swear in this article?). Both my mom and dad have strong left and right sides of their brains.

My mom is a CFO of a large non-profit and was a dance teacher for many years. Not only does she understand numbers and data, but she also won awards for her creative dance pieces, taking them international.

My dad is a successful project manager at a large company and is one of the best artists I’ve ever met. His watercolor skills are masterful.

I could go on…but my point is that I adopted business and life skills from my parents that shaped who I am today. I think role models are people who are their complete selves, not seeking validation but showing a way to live.

Is there something you miss that no one else knows about?
Ironically, something I miss is the idea behind a clock in, clock out job. I say this because as a business owner, I never clock out. If my husband doesn’t stop me for dinner or a date, I could work 24/7 because there is always something I could be doing!

What comes into play is managing my time and discipline. Sometimes I have to force myself to stop working at 6pm so that I can have a relaxing evening and take time to recharge. It’s critical.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What important truth do very few people agree with you on?
Lately, there’s been a serious lack of awareness. Statistically, we are more distracted now than ever, in part due to social media, which is designed to divert focus. I think because of this, our brain becomes a little less sharp in daily events.

Take driving, for example. I drive daily for work, traveling from one client to another, and I see plenty of accidents, lack of turn signals, and people on their phones at stoplights. When was the last time someone drove, fully aware of their task? I don’t mean to negate; however, there needs to be more singular focus on tasks. We are more effective in our tasks when we are less distracted. This is something I’ve found to be true in business, as well.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What will you regret not doing? 
I would regret not taking the company international. We offer exceptional virtual care and in-person services so I would regret not taking these services as far geographically as they can possibly go. The more plants we can save, the happier the customer.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.zenplantcare.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zenplantcare/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudia-grimm/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Zen-Plant-Care/100091689245966/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/zen-plant-care-san-diego
• Other: https://www.zenplantcare.com/teleplant-care

Image Credits
Tenowski Branding